I haven’t been blogging lately (it was a To Do marked Done at 100 posts). The Twittering flutters along because that is the essence of my “flair”, a poetic sense of economy in phrasing and a silly willful wink at our love∞sex obsession.

I encourage you to read more, and read differently (new authors, new medium, new time of day or era of time) so that you engage your brain in the wonder that is our written word built out of our spoken word. This is our tribal knowledge, and use of language “speaks volumes” about a person or a group.

Just as an example of what language IS: To be caught saying vile abusive things is not an “incident”, it is a MIND SET. Times change but deep down character does not. It doesn’t matter if you did what you bragged about doing, it is notable you think bragging about it is cool. It isn’t that you shouldn’t have said it, you shouldn’t even (admit you) think it. We can’t police your thoughts but we can infer a lot from your statements. Lewd language can be ‘flirty-dirty’ but we cannot tolerate ‘rancid’. It is the ingrained habitual disregard for dignity by the speaker toward the spoken-of that finally drags the ugly out where we can see it.

I ride the line between risqué and ridiculous so I know that verbal disrespect is a tone thing, and is of the moment, but that the longer-range intent of a statement will ring through. The best defense against offensive statements is an arsenal of alternate language. School yourself in our collective intelligence so you too enrich the world with your particular way of thinking. Shut down the thoughtless and the crude because they are wasting your time. Be brief, be firm, and then be gone from them. You get only so many breaths to waft words into the air, be prudent! Your ears drum only so much, listen carefully.